The Power of the Phoenix
by ravenp12
Summary: Arya Sky is not a normal girl and has sometimes wished she was. But after an escape that sets her free from a torturous prison, she meets new friends and goes on the adventure of a lifetime.
1. The Nightmare

Chapter 1: The Nightmare

Bam!

Running as fast as her legs can take her, hoping as much as she can that she doesn't get caught. Suddenly, the sirens are set off, blaring in her ears

"Oh, crap." she thinks to herself. "They figured it out."

She looks ahead at the forest of freedom beyond the fence.

"If I could just make it over…."

BANG!

A bullet races passed her ear. She runs harder and faster. Not turning around for a sec, she sprints toward the fence.

BANG!

Another bullet hits the dirt behind her heels.

"Just a little more…"

Suddenly, she has the urge to go up. The fence is closer. She has seconds to decide.

At the last possible second, she springs out her bright, red wings, and pushes off the ground. Just narrowly missing the barbed wire, she makes it.

"Freedom at las…"

BANG!

Another bullet nips her wing, and she plummets to the ground. Hard. She gets up groggily, and starts to run.

"Have…to….run…"

She hears shouting from behind, and wondering why the gate hasn't opened. She turns, and sees that they have given up. The last thing she sees is the bright, shining moon, before she passes out, tumbling.

**A/N (via 2016): Hey guys! I know I've haven't posted in almost two (maybe one?) years, and I really apologize for that. A lot has been going on in my life at home and my internet life hasn't exactly gotten a lot of my attention save for an occasional check on something. **

**I've finally managed to get a break and look back at this story. You have no idea how badly I cringed while rereading this and noticed so many grammar errors, random tense changes, etc. Blech! And so I've decided to revise each chapter and post the next one. Again, I'm sorry for the long hiatus for my old readers. For my new readers, I hope you enjoy! **


	2. New Beginnings

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is the first fanfic that I'm posting and am working on many others at the same time. I will see if I can post a new chapter at least once a week, but no guarantees. Thankfully, summer is almost here so I won't have to worry about school being in the way. Anyway, onto the chapter!**

Chapter 2: New Beginnings

I wake up with a start, breath caught in my throat. I have no idea where I am. I feel the warm, morning sunshine through the blinds in the room. I blink the the sleep from my eyes and look around the room. The walls are painted a light, cream color, a snow colored carpet covering the floor. I let my breath go as my mind starts to rewind to last night. The guns, the fence, the sense of freedom... My senses suddenly go on hyperdrive as I feel that someone else is in the room. My eyes scan the room until they lie on a figure directly in front of me. Sitting on a chair is a boy that looks about my age. He has brown, scruffy hair that looks messy but neat. He's wearing a plain, red t-shirt and dark jeans. His eyes are a bright forest green. I suck in my breath and back up.

"No! No, it's ok, you're safe." The boy says standing up and coming closer. I back up til my head slams against the backboard.

"Oh, geez! Are you ok?" The boy sits down on the bed and examines my head.

"W-where am I?" I manage to say.

"Oh! Sorry." the boy says backing up. "You're at a safe house. I found you in the woods unconsious and bleeding, so I brought you back here." He rubs the back of his neck nervously. I feel myself relax and lean against the bed frame. "What's your name?" he asks.

"Arya. Ayra Sky." I reply.

"That's a very pretty name." I feel a light blush reach my cheeks and see it reached his face too. He looks down and I let lose a small giggle. "What?" he says looking up, making me fall into a fit of giggles at his confused expression. I finally managed to calm down enough to speak.

"Sorry. Couldn't help it." I say, wiping a stray tear. "Thank you." I say looking at him.

"Why? What did I do?"

"I haven't laughed like that for a long time." I say with a smile. An awkward silence falls between us. "So, uh, I didn't catch your name." I say, breaking the silence.

"Oh, sorry. It's Daniel." he answers with a smile. "You hungry?" As a response, my stomach growls. He laughs and stands up off the bed. I go to follow when a thought pops into my head.

"You said you found me in the forest, right?" I asked. He nods. I start to panic. If he found me, than he must have seen...

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." I look up and see him smiling. I stand up from the bed and follow him out of the room. We make a left and go down a hall which is lined with multiple doors. At the end, the hall opens up to a living room and a kitchen with a bar counter. Daniel walks around the counter and opens the fridge.

"Are eggs ok with you?" he asks, taking the carton of eggs from the fridge.

"As long as it's edible." I say, sitting down on one of the stools at the counter. Daniel turns on the stove and takes out a pan.

"So where did you come from?" he asks, cracking the eggs in to a bowl.

"That's an interesting story." I say with a humorless laugh.

"We've got time."

I sigh. "Well, it started when my parents left me."

**CLIFFHANGER! I love writing cliffhangers, so as an advanced sorry, expect a few cliffhangers. I am going to be working on the next chapter as soon as I post this one. Please review! I value all of your opinions and would love some feedback.**


	3. Confessions

**A/N: Just as a heads up, I will change the POV without telling you, but do make it obvious as to who's view it's in.**

Chapter 3: Confessions

"What do you mean they left you?" I say just as my hand comes down onto the bowl with egg covering my hand. I barely even noticed the goop of the egg running down my arm as the stared in shock at her. Ayra sighs, closing her bright, sky blue eyes. Her dark red hair flows down her face and land past her shoulders.

"I was only five." she says, looking down at the counter. "They never really wanted a child in the first place. So one day they got themselves drunk and were gone by the time I woke up." She fittles with her fingers and avoids making eye contact. "I was tossed into an orphanage and luckily only stayed for two years. But if I knew what happened next, I would have wished for nothing more than to go back." She stops and takes a shaky breath. "I was adopted by this really nice lady. She took care of me, played with me. We did everything together. She even taught me some martial arts." She smiles lightly at a memory. Her expression turns dark again before continuing. "One day, about a year after she took me in, we decided to take a trip. She didn't tell me where, just somewhere far away. We crossed states and took a couple months to get there. I fell asleep about an hour before we got there and the next minute I know, I'm tied to a lab table and people in lab coats were experimenting on me. I spent the next six years in that horrible place." she keeps her head bent down as a silence settles upon us. She suddenly sits straight up with a shocked look on her face. She carefully reaches down her back and pulls out a snake. One look at it and her expression lightens up.

"Aww! Look at you. What were you doing there?" she says as the snake wraps around her arm.

"Dang it! That wasn't the reaction I was looking for!" a voice calls from the edge of the living room.

"Shida!" I yell as I bolt out of the kitchen and around the counter. "Where are you!?" Just as I'm about to run into the living room, I suddenly see the floor coming at me. With quick reflexes, my hands shoot out in front of me and I back flip over the couch. I quickly turn around just to hear footsteps run down the hall. I dash to the entrance to the hall and see a door slam at the end. I grin and quickly dash through the kitchen to the pantry and grab the large bag of flour in the back. I head back to the hall and lightly sprinkle a layer on the floor and out into the living room. I than put the bag on the counter and wait behind the couch. I hear a door close lightly and light footsteps approach this side of the hall. I look to the ground and see footsteps on the light powder and smile. I jump out from behind the couch and tackle the invisible girl. We crash to the floor just as she became visible. I quickly pin her down before she can react.

"Ha! Got you!" I say triumphantly. Her dark, brown eyes glare at me.

"You wouldn't have if you didn't put the flour down again!" She says, struggling from my grip.

"Well, than you shouldn't put your snake in people's shirts." I say standing up and holding out my hand. Instead of taking it, she brings her legs up behind her head and stands up straight. I head to kitchen to finish making breakfast.

"So who's this?" she says, sitting in the stool next to Ayra and gracefully puts her elbows on the counter, head in her hands.

"I'm Arya." She says, holding out her hand while the snake slithers around her shoulders and onto her arm. Shida takes it with a sly grin.

"You've got guts, Arya. Most of my siblings freak out every time I do that." she says while they shake. "I'm Shida."

**A/N: And there you have it. Do you guys like the new character? Please let me know. I take all of your comments and reviews by heart and would love some feedback.**


	4. Ohana

**A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated lately. It's my last week of school and my teachers have been throwing as much as they can at me plus finals. It also doesn't help that I have had writer's block for a while. **

**Thank you guys sooo much for the reviews. You have no idea how excited I was when I read them. Even though there were only three reviews, I was so excited that I started writing my next chapter as soon as I read them (after my mom told my to do homework. Ugh!). They mean a lot to me. cloud in the box,****thank you sooo much. I'm really glad you like it that much. Oh, I forgot to mention. I didn't come up with Shida's name on a whim. Her name means 'trouble' in Swahili. Why Swahili? Because it sounded cool! I basically went on Google Translator and typed in trouble and clicked around on the different languages to see which one sounded the best. I am a very multi-cultural person, as you will probably see. Now, onto the chapter!**

Chapter 4: Ohana

After having a nice full breakfast, I found out that Daniel had a total of four siblings, him being the oldest. Apparently, they were all experimented on in a place that sounded far to familiar to my liking. Someone in the lab helped them escape when they were young, but unfortunately didn't make it out with them. I place my hands on the counter to get up to help with the dishes when someone stumbles in the room, eyes closed as he struggles to get up on the seat next to me. He looks no more than six, his dirty blond hair standing up in all directions. He manages to scramble on the chair, and sits down with an exhausted expression on his small face. I can't help but think just how cute this kid was.

"Morning Orlando!" Daniel says as he ruffles his messy hair. Orlando responds with a light yawn, carefully laying his head on the counter. As cute as that was, I figures he needs to stay awake.

"Hey, don't fall asleep again." I say, giving him a light nudge. His head shoots up and looks at me with dark blue eyes. They slowly turn a bright orange as a smile crept to his face.

"Do you wanna play?" he asks with enthusiasm. Again, his eyes start turning lighter until they were yellow. I look at his eyes with curiosity as they change again to a light blue.

"What's wrong?" he asks as confusion etch on his face.

"Uh, your eyes. They keep changing color." I say. His eyes change back to the dark blue I first saw as an understanding expression comes across his face.

"Oh ya! Sometimes my eyes will changed colors on how I feel, but my usual eye color is this." he explains. Daniel sets a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Orlando who turns to it hungrily. I hear a door close and footsteps from the hall. I turn to see a tall boy come into the room, fully dressed and ready for the day. His light brown hair is combed back neatly, and he is wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans. He looks around the room with grey eyes until they land on me. He looks at me with a smile on his face, but his eyes holds a suspious look in them.

"Hello there." he says with a thick, British accent. He comes around the counter and stands across from me, leaning on the counter.

"Hello." I reply, leaning on the counter look into his eyes. We stare at each other for a good two mintues before he lets out a girlish scream and stumbles back onto the floor. Shida starts laughing so hard tears are coming out of her eyes and she falls to the floor in a fit of giggles. I look to the boy and see him staring at my shoulder in horror. Confused, I reach my hand to my shoulder and feel the snake there. I carefully wrap my hand around the snake and bring it back out from behind me. The boy screams again and Shida is thrown into another fit of giggles. I give Shida a death glare before I go into the hall and walk into the last door on the right. I open the door and see a very messy room with all sorts of knick knacks that look like torture devices for siblings. There were so many prank toys lying around, I knew for sure that this was Shida's room. On the other side of the room, there was a large cage with tubes connecting to other smaller cages. I carefully make my way to the cage and open the small door. I put my hand in and let the snake slither in, closing the door. I start make my way back to the hall and see Daniel standing in the doorway.

"Whatcha doing?" he asks, leaning against the door frame.

"Putting Shida's snake in its home. The boy in the kitchen has had been scared enough for one morning." I reply as I step over a few more toys.

"Oh yeah, that's John. He'll act all tough, but he's still a little boy on the inside." He says, laughing a little. I crack a grin, looking up at him. I was almost at the doorway before my foot was caught on something. I start to fall foward into the hall, putting my hands out in front of me on instinct. But I never hit the floor. I feel hands around my waist keeping me from hitting the ground. I turn my head to see Daniel keeping me from falling. He lifted me up on my feet, holding my shoulders as I wobble slightly.

"Are you ok?" he asks, looking at me with concern. I nod my head and hear a small snicker from the end of the hall. I turn and see John and Shida trying to contain their laughter.

"What are they laughing at?" I say while nodding at them. Daniel turns to look at them and relazation comes to his face as its starts to turn red.

"Shida! John!" he yells as he runs off toward them. Confused, I follow them back and sit back down next to Orlando, who is currently stuffing his face with bacon. I hear Daniel charge throughout the house after Shida and John. Eventually Daniel gave up, lying on the floor and breathing heavily. There were a few minutes of peace and quiet, until there was an ear-splitting scream. Daniel rushes down the hallway and I quickly follow. He turns to the second door on the right, slamming it open.

"What happened?!" he asks, catching his breath. I peer over his shoulder to see a girl sitting straight up in her bed, her violet eyes wide with fear. Her breathing hard and was staring off like she was still in the midst of dreaming. Daniel goes over and sits down on her bed. Her eyes shoot right to him and in an instant he is pulled into a hug. Her body starts to shake, tears falling down her face.

"I-I saw h-her." she says so softly I almost hadn't caught it. I decide to leave them be, lightly closing he door behind me. I turn around and see Orlando standing there looking at the door with a sad expression on his face.

"She had the nightmare again, didn't she?" he asks to no one in particular. Confused, I kneel down to his eye level.

"What nightmare?" I ask him. He looks up at me.

"Suzume can see things. Things that had happened in the past. And sometimes the future." he says, looking down again as he spoke.

"She's had this vision before, right?" I ask. He nods.

"What does she see?" I question. Orlando looks up at me again, his eyes a sad color of light blue.

"She dreams of Caroline."


	5. Nightmares and Truths

**A/N: I am soooooo sorry I haven't updated recently! I've had the worse writer's block and hadn't known how to get rid of it. I will try to update sooner, but my family just left for vacation for two weeks so you may or may not hear from me for a while. Good news, it takes about 10 hours to get to where we're going, so I will have A LOT of time to write. Anyway, onto the chapter!**

Chapter 5 - Nightmares and Truths

I wake up screaming as I sit up in bed. I had that dream again. Every now and then, I have that dream, and it's becoming more and more frequent. Although, something was different with this one. There was someone new. My mind replays the horrid nightmare again. I see her there, with an evil grin I never thought she could wear. I see my family, helpless on the lab tables and covered in blood. Usually the dream would end there and switch, but it didn't. There was a light from a door opening and a bright red glow. Standing in the doorway was a girl with dark red hair and bright blue eyes. The scene switched like usual to a forest passing me like a blur. I turned and saw her coming at me, her speed doubled from what I remembered. Her face suddenly changed, hair sprouting on her usually kind face and nose growing into a snout. Letting out a snarling howl, she opened her mouth and charged. That's when I woke up.

I feel something lean on the bed and look up, seeing Daniel. I immediately pull him into a hug, making sure that he was here and alive.

"I-I saw h-her." I softly say in an almost inaudible whisper. I feel tears flow down my face as I start to sob.

"Shh, shh. It's ok." Daniel says as he runs his hand through my jet black hair, calming me down. My sobs turn into silent tears, and slowly, they too disappear. Once calmed down, I pull away and wipe the stray tears away.

"Why don't you get changed. We have a guest." He says, standing up and heading out the door.

"Guest?" I ask, knowing we've never had guests before. He only smiles before closing the door. I slide out of bed and walk to my closet. I pull out my Firefly t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I slip them on along with a fresh pair of socks and stick my head out my bedroom door.

"Shida!" I call. I hear a patter of footsteps before I see the girl come down the hall. She comes into my room and sits down on my bed without another word. I grab the hair brush off of the vanity and sit down beside her and start to brush her hair. We usually do this in the morning and before bed. Something that connects us differently. She's not the girly type, so it's rare that this is something she would like to do.

"So, did you have that nightmare again?" She asks, sitting up straight as I brush the rat's nest that is Shida's hair.

"Yeah, but it was different this time. There was someone else there." I say as I recall the girl flooded in light.

"Who?" Shida asks, wincing as I pull a large knot free.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure what it could mean." I admit. This was rare for me, and a little scary. Usually my dreams are visions of something that is to come. I will sometimes get things that are of the past that connect to something in the future. Each has a meaning, and I usually know what it means. But I don't know what the appearance of this girl means, whether it was good or bad. Shida had taken the brush from my hands as my thoughts consumed me.

"Done!" Shida says, bringing me back to reality. "Let's go have breakfast!" She says with a smile and bolts to the door. I smile and follow her. I walk into the living room and see everyone sitting at the kitchen counter having eggs and bacon, Shida torturing John as usual. I sit down at the counter as Daniel puts a large plate of eggs in front of me. I start to eat, looking around the room for the new face he had mentioned. I see Shida chasing John in a blur, and Orlando shoveling food into his cute face. Sitting next to him is a girl that looks about Daniel's age. She has long, flowing red hair and sky blue eyes. My fork is about halfway to my mouth when realization kicks in. That's her. The girl in my dream. The fork clatters to my plate, startling me out of my thoughts.

"Are you ok?" She asks with a worried expression on her face. I nod, picking my fork up again and forcing food into my mouth to prevent from answering any questions. Unfortunately for me, I tend to eat fast, and my delicious plate of eggs and bacon are gone in a split second. I sigh, taking my plate to the sink and washing it clean. I see a shadow of someone leaning against the fridge. I turn and see the girl.

"Hi. I'm Arya" she says, holding out her hand. I hesitate, than take her hand to shake.

"Suzume." I say with a smile. I suddenly feel something come over me, and my grip on her hand tightens. The room is engulfed in black as I hear the distant sound of panic from the last place I would want to be. My vision comes together as I see people in white coats rush around in blurs, panic all around. A siren is blaring in my ears and the halls are flashing red with emergency.

"Code Red! Code Red! Experiment 279-2759 has escaped! Repeat! Experiment 279-2759 has escaped!" A loud speaker says over the sirens. From down the hall, a large group of Erasers are rushing down, getting ready for a chase. The one in the front walks into one of the offices, pounding the door open.

"Where did it go!?" He asks a timid man with glasses at a computer.

"I-it went d-directly east f-from here." He says, shaking as he types on the keyboard, avoiding eye contact with the Eraser.

"I need something more specific! Where did you lose track of her!?" He snarls as he starts to slowly pace, keeping his hungry gaze at the man. The man jumps and types faster on the keyboard. After a few minutes, the man takes his glasses off as he looks at the computer. The Eraser stops pacing and glares impatiently at him.

"Well!?" He asks.

"W-we lost track of her around h-here." The man says, pointing to a location on a map on the screen. Looking at the screen, I notice that the spot on the screen is only about an hour from our house. The Eraser smiles and marches out.

I gasp, sucking in air as if I was drowning with water. My vision is blurry with a pinging in my ear.

"Suzume! Wake up!" I hear a voice say.

"Here! Use this!"

"No! Wait, Shida! Don't..." I suddenly feel ice water drowse me, my vision clearing. I sit straight up from the shock of the cold. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look to see a very concerned Arya. Realizing who the Eraser was talking about, I stare at Arya scared for her and what might become of the rest of us.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

"Experiment 279-2759.." I lightly mutter, looking down at the floor. I feel her eyes go wide with fear.

"How do you know that?" Her voice comes out shaky and scared. I look back up at her.

"They're coming for you."

**A/N: Another chapter done! I hope you guys liked it. I have finally arrived at my vacation destination and as beautiful as it is, I have recently found out that there is no wifi. Luckily, the local library does, so that's why you have this chapter. I wanted to make sure you guys didn't think I abandoned you (like I would :D). Again, I am so sorry I didn't update sooner, but I now have a little inspiration and am definitely writing the next chapter. Please review!**


	6. Time to Go

**A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated soon. The past few weeks have been hectic and I just got home last night after two weeks on vacation, and two weeks with my best friend. I have unfortunately been busy. So, without out further ado:**

Chapter 6 - Time to Go

"Suzume." She says, taking my hand with a smile. Her smile suddenly falters and her grip on my hand tightens. Her eyes flutter close and she drops to the floor, taking me with her.

"Suzume!" I check for a pulse and sigh in relief. I put my hand to her forehead. No fever.

"Arya! What happened?" Daniel comes running in most likely at my panic.

"I don't know. We were introducing ourselves when she suddenly fainted." Orlando comes around the counter to see the commotion. One look at Suzume and tears start sprouting from his eyes. Shida and John stop and come over.

"I'll get water!" Shida cries, and bolts away.

Suzume suddenly takes a gasp of breath.

"Suzume! Wake up!" Unexpectedly, this came from Orlando, sprouting a small fountain.

"Here! Use this!" Shida says, coming in with a bucket of water.

"No! Wait Shida! Don't..." The water is thrown down on top of Suzume, Daniel, and myself. Suzume sits straight up, most likely from the shock of the cold. She looks at me with a terrified expression.

"What's wrong?" I ask, putting my hand on her shoulder. She looks down and mutters something quiet enough that only Daniel and I can hear.

"Experiment 279-2759." My eyes go wide and a chill falls over me, and it's not from the water.

"How do you know that?" I ask in a shaky voice. When I escaped, I never ever wanted to hear that again. I feel Daniel's questioning gaze on me, but try to ignore it till later. She looks up at me, a look of horror in her eyes.

"They're coming for you." A flood of fear runs right through me, not wanting to believe it. The look in Suzume's eyes, however, only confirms my fears.

"Arya, Suzume, what's wrong?" Daniel says, worry in his voice.

"I have to go." I say, standing up.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asks.

"They're looking for me and that means you guys will get caught up in the mess. I'm not risking that." I find a door leading outside. As I'm about to reach it, I feel a hand on my shoulder and am spun around.

"And you think we're going to just let you walk out of here and get caught?" Daniel says with serious determination in his eyes. I try to match his determination, but truthfully I am scared to tears. His gaze softens along with the grip on my shoulder.

"Orlando! Suzume! Start grabbing food! No cans, we need to pack light. Shida! Clothes! And no funny business! John! Grab the old maps!" He calls behind his shoulder

"Wait, no. I can't let you leave your home." I protest as everyone starts rushing around.

"No worries. We try to move every so often. It's our third home and we've been ready for a while." he says with a reassured smile.

* * *

About half an hour later, we were all outside and ready to go. Each of us had a light backpack with food and clothes. I look down the line, each person with excitement on their face. Well, almost each person. Arya looks like she's ready to pass out.

"Alright, one by one take off!" I say, taking a head count as each of my siblings go. Shida is the first to go, like usual. She jumps off the cliff, free falls for a sec before she spreads a pair of black wings spotted with white that lift her up into the sky. Next was John, following Shida with light brown wings. Orlando jumped with a happy smile as his pure white wings pulled him up with the others. Suzume followed Orlando on a pair of dark purple wings, often mistaken for black. I turn and see Arya watching the others in amazement.

"Your turn." I say. She comes out of her trance and looks at me as if I've got two heads.

"I can't do that. I've only flown once in my life and it ended in an unexpected dive bomb." She says, referring to the night she escaped.

"It's easy. Just jump and unfurl. You saw the others." I say, pointing to my siblings.

"Yeah, but they've been able to practice for a while." She protests, watching them do flips and fancy turns.

"Well," I start before I hear the sound of a helicopter in the distance. "We have to go. Now!" I say, grabbing her hand and racing toward the edge.

"Wait! What do you mean?!" She asks, shocked at the sudden movement.

"They're almost here. And fast." I say, getting to the edge.

"Wait, what do you mean they're almost heeeerrrre!" We jump off the edge and free fall, all the while the sound of the helicopter coming closer and closer. I wrap my free arm around Arya's waist and unfurl my dark brown wings, lifting us up with the others.

"A chopper is coming!" I yell above the cool wind at the others. I bring myself up to them, taking the rear.

"Where are we going?" Suzume asks.

"Just keep going. I'm figuring that out." I had absolutely no idea where to go. Right now, my goal is to get ahead of that chopper and someplace safe. I look down at Arya. She had a look of amazement on her face, even as we're close to facing intimate doom. With the wind blowing in her face, I could tell this was where she belonged. She looked up at me with a huge grin on her face.

"This is amazing!" she says, holding her arms out and closing her eyes. I couldn't help but smile. I remember my first time up in the air. The sense of freedom, wind in your hair. It had been the first time I felt good in my life. Arya looks exactly how I felt. I found that she was surprisingly light in my arms as I flew ahead to start turning us south so we didn't have to fly through a lot of desert. Even though the sense of danger never left me, I'm glad to up in the sky, somewhat relaxing. I close my eyes as I feel the wind brush my bangs to the side. I let myself get lost, forgetting about the world around. I get about two minutes of this before my 'spidey-sense' starts kicking up a storm, but only a moment to soon. My eyes open wide just as I hear the sound of a rifle go off. I feel a hard tug from Arya, who pulls me hard to the right. Next minute I know, I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder and drop about 25 feet. My vision gets hazy as I fight to keep upright.

"Daniel!" I faintly hear. I look down and see Arya with a panicked expression. I see the others had flown ahead.

"Just keep going." I tell her as I lose consciousness.

**A/N: I hope you guys liked the chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this one and I think the next one will be better. If you guys have any suggestions, please let me know. I am having writer's block more often and a few suggestions really couldn't hurt. But, if you have no suggestions and like the fact that I am making this story up as I go along, pleeeeaaaassssee let me know and review! I love reviews and would really appreciate a few reviews. See ya soon! :D**


	7. Departure

**A/N: Hey guys! I am so sorry for the long hiatus. A lot has been happening to me outside of my life on the internet and I haven't had a lot of time to work on this story. I finally managed to reread and continue (hence Chapter 7). For my old readers, I have gone back and fixed a few things in the previous chapters. In my rereading, I noticed many grammar errors and random tense changes that were not supposed to be there. So, if you would like, you can reread back at Chapter 1. If not (and to my new readers), I hope you enjoy. I'll try to post more often as I write.**

**REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED ! :D**

Chapter 7 - Departure

"This is amazing!" I close my eyes and hold my hands out. This is the best experience I have ever had. All of my fears and problems just melted away as I let the wind numb my face. I stay like that for a few minutes before something tells me to move. I hear a gun shot, and as if it were in slow motion, my eyes snap open and I use as much force as I can to pull Daniel out of the line of fire. I see the small bullet hit the back of his left shoulder and his wings falter for a second, dropping us down. He wobbles a bit, trying to keep his eyes focused.

"Daniel!" I start to panic. I don't know what to do and he is losing blood fast. He looks down at me and says "Just keep going." before his eyes close and we start to drop out of the sky.

"Daniel!" I yell. I won't lie. I'm in complete panic. The ground is coming closer very fast and I know there is no time to call the others.

"Here goes nothing." I think to myself as I quickly unfurl my wings. They catch the air fast, making me gasp at the sharp pain that flowed from my wings. But it quickly left as I heave Daniel and myself up into the sky. I spot the others, who thankfully hadn't stopped. Although I'm a little unstable in the air, I will myself to fly as fast as I can to catch up to the others and hopefully find a way to get rid of that helicopter. I fly straight at them, holding onto Daniel tight.

"Hey guys!" I call as I near them. Suzume turns around and gasps.

"Arya! What happened?!" She asks, flying over and helping me carry Daniel.

"They...have...guns..." I pant out, keeping my death grip on Daniel's arm while trying to keep my wings flapping. "We need to...out fly...them."

"I don't mean to be a pessimist here, Daniel is out cold and you seem to be fairly new at this flying thing." Shida says, looking very worried.

"Well, then we need to strategize." I say, looking around at our landscape. The way we had come is fairly condensed with trees that seem to stop growing east at a certain point. But everywhere else was all flat, plains. There was no where to hide.

"We'll split up." I say. "They're after me, so if I go one way, you guys can get out of here with Daniel."

"We can't just do that!" John exclaims. "Daniel always said we never leave anyone behind. We go together."

"But what other choice do we have!" I counter. Silence falls upon the group. I take a deep breath "Get Daniel out of here. He's badly hurt and is losing blood fast. I'll distract them."

They all stare at me, stun to silence.

"Go!" I yell, shaking them out of their trance. John quickly helps Suzume with Daniel and starts leading the way.

"Where are we meeting up?" Shida asks.

"You guys should start heading north. Stay along the boarder line to the desert, but try to stay hidden. Walk if you have to, just stay safe. I'll try to meet you in a couple hours." I reply. She nods and starts off after Suzume and John. I am suddenly tackled, and for a quick moment forgot I was supposed to fly.

"Promise to come back safe, ok?" The muffled voice of Orlando is heard as he squeezes me tight.

"I promise." I say, wrapping my arms around his tiny figure. He lets go, looking up at me with sad, blue eyes. He grabs my hand and wraps his small pinkie around mine before he speeds off toward the others. I give a small smile before turning toward the helicopter. At this point they were close enough that I ca see the ugly half wolf faces in the front seat through the window. A smirk crawls across my face as I start mocking them, waving my hands around with my tongue sticking out. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Real mature. But it got their attention. Their hairy faces turned into scowls, which was my signal to turn tail and fly as fast as I could, which unfortunately isn't very fast. I don't know how to control the way I move around to catch the air currents, so I might as well have been a balloon running out of air. I try flapping my wings as hard as I could, but all it does is slow me down even more and bring me lower to the ground. I hear the loud sound of the helicopter coming closer and closer, when a really crazy idea forms in my mind. I look behind me, watching the helicopter coming toward me. By the time I do anything, it's right on top of me. At the last second, I quickly close my wings and let myself fall. I feel the wind pass between the claw of the Eraser and my back. I fall like a missile, nosediving right to the ground. And as scary as I thought it would have been, it gives me a completely new sense of thrill. I smile through the cold air, then unfurl and catch the wind, sending me straight up. I pass the helicopter and manage to catch an air current above the clouds. An unknown instinct took hold of me, and I let my wings do all the work. It felt very weird. I've had these wings for about six years, yet I never got the chance to really use them. I can feel the slightest shift in the air, my feathers changing to fit the pattern of the wind as I seem to flow across the clouds. I take a look behind me and see the helicopter propellers just peaking over the cloud line.

"They're pretty serious about this, huh?" I say aloud to myself. Thinking it's time I ditched these guys, I sink down into the clouds to give myself cover. I listen for the sound of the helicopter which thankfully starts to grow fainter. Even when I can't hear it anymore (which certainly took awhile), I continue to stay in the cover of the clouds. Although exhausted from losing the Erasers, I'm determined to find the others even if it takes me all night.

**A/N: Follow and review please! Love you all!**


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